Acadia has had a very busy week! Today was her piano recital and she did a great job!
She played two songs: I Know That My Redeemer Lives and Jessica's Theme. Her teacher awarded her with the Teacher's Choice Award for going above and beyond what was expected; Cadi had selected two pieces that were both difficult, especially Jessica's Theme and then she worked really hard to learn them. We are so pround of her!
Here is her performance:
Good job, Acadia!
*Cadi officially learned Jessica's Theme one year before I did; I was 12 and had been playing for four years when I learned it, but she is 11 and has only been playing for 3. :)
Last night was Acadia's orchestra concert. They did a good job! There were also performances by the Beginning 6th Grade Orchestra (Acadia is in the Advanced 6th Grade Orchestra), the 7th Grade Orchestra, and the 6th Grade Choir. This was Cadi's group's last piece, called Dragon Slayer:
After we attended the awesome Primary Activity this weekend, we headed over to the Hills to celebrate some January birthdays, namely: Mary Jane, Chad, and Ryan. I'm going to stop saying how much fun we have everytime we see them because I know it just starts to sound like a broken record, but I will say that I laughed harder that night than I have in a LONG time! I had tears streaming down my face and my cheeks hurt so bad... oh man, it was awesome!
First some pics (click to enlarge)...
Present time!
Matthew and Mary Jane gave Ryan a "Sympathy" card, lamenting sore knees, balding spots, and diminished energy levels. It was pretty funny!
The kids LOVED the pinata! Heck, even the big kids did!
We played several games: Uno, Yatzee, Mafia (I was Mafia both rounds and totally knocked off my family! lol), The Game of Things... but these videos were from a new game we tried. We had to cover our teeth with our lips and took turns going around saying words in funny ways to make everyone else laugh. If someone showed their teeth, they were out. Yeah, I was out first every time! lol I knew I would totally lose at that game! lol It was hilarious!!!
In this round, we were saying "Marco" and "Polo" and it came down to Sami and Matthew:
This round had me laughing SO HARD!!! I'm sorry the camera jiggled a bit! lol We were saying "Wha" and "Bam" (Wha-BAM!) and it came down to Matthew and Ryan... they sounded like monkeys in a zoo! lol
We ended up staying way later than we planned or should have, but we just couldn't leave; we were having such a good time!
On Saturday, the primary children were invited to an activity where they would be meeting super heroes! As you can imagine, the children were very excited! They arrived, some dressed as heroes themselves, and anxiously awaited their guests. As the primary president began their activity, they were interrupted by Moroni rushing in with sword and gold plates in hand:
Acadia took that video - Thank you, Acadia! Otherwise, you would have only had these photos to look at (click to enlarge):
After Moroni left, the kids split into groups and visited different rooms. In each room, they found more superheroes:
Helaman is a great story teller! He told his exciting story about leading the 2,000 stripling warriors. He used the chairs to show how they tricked the army of the Lamanites.
Lehi and Sariah told the children about having to leave their home and possessions. Lehi told the kids about his dream and some of the kids (including Rori) were able to see what it would be like to be in total darkness, lost and confused, even a little dizzy, and to try to find the tree on their own. But then they found how much easier and less scary it was once they grabbed hold of the Iron Rod.
Captain Moroni brought the Title of Liberty and all of the children were able to sign it. In the picture of Rori, you can see where she wrote "Rori" all by herself, at the bottom near her arm. After signing the Title of Liberty, each child was given a smaller piece of material to make their own. The wrote the things that were important to them and what they wanted to stand for.
After visiting each of the rooms, the kids went back to the primary room and found Joseph Smith, Jr. waiting for them! He told them about how the Angel Moroni visited him and told him about the gold plates which had been hidden. After 4 years, Joseph Smith was finally ready to recieve them:
Of course, once again, some of the kids helped to unbury the plates. Then Joseph, too, bore special witness of the importance of them.
At the very end of the activity, all of the heroes hung around to get pictures taken with the children:
Also, here are a few more pictures that Acadia took with her camera during the activity...
This was such a great activity!!! All of the kids loved it and the adults did, too! ;)
(I apologize for the poor quality of my photos. Turns out, Ryan borrowed my camera for work, changed the setting to one of the lowest settings, and didn't change it back! Grrr.... Note to self, always check the settings before taking pics that you'll consider important and valuable. :( )
Sesame Street talked about friends today. When it was over, Rori came to me and said, "I have friends. You have friends, too." I said, "Yes, it's nice to have friends." She answered, "Yes, it's lovely."
Have you ever started talking (or writing) about something that you were upset about and were fully prepared to rant about only to find that as you went on, you realized that what you thought was the issue, wasn't even the issue, making you look inside and wonder what was really bothering you and if in fact, it was YOU that had the problem, not the person or thing you thought you were upset at/about?
Yesterday, in Relief Society, we talked about sacrifice. One of the things we talked about sacrificing is our pride.
check.
Growing up, I didn't care about sports. I still don't care about most sports. But I LOVE football. I really do. I love watching the game, I love hard hits, I love amazing plays... it's not even about the guys in tight pants anymore (which was the best part about going to high school football games back before I cared about the actual game). ;)
I especially love Patriots football. I really, really, do. I think we've got great players. I think Belichick is a genius and Brady is brilliant. I love that we don't have one or two guys that we always go to for great plays. We have so many great guys, we use them all. Our defense is young, but they are learning and growing and doing pretty dang good in the meantime. The Patriots are a really good, solid team.
Except for yesterday. There was no fire, no excitement, they were going through the motions but no one brought their heart. It wasn't just one person - I don't even think it was all Brady's fault this time. Balls were dropped, defenders were let through the line, stupid violations were made... it was a mess. I hate it when we lose. I hate it even more when we lose to the Jets (come on, ANYONE but the Jets!!! ... Okay, or the Giants cause I still hold a grudge there, too. lol). But I hate it most when we lose and deserved it. And yesterday, based on how they were playing, they totally deserved to lose. I think that's what bugs me the the most.
Hey, I showed up. I was here, cheering, wearing my red, white, and blue... excited, hopeful, talking smack... but it was as if I cared more than they did. I know that can't be true, but they sure played like it is. They let me down. Big time. I'm mad... I'm hurt... I'm seriously disappointed.
